Robert St Vincent Sherbrooke

Robert St Vincent Sherbrooke
Nickname	Rupert
Born	8 January 1901 Oxton, Nottinghamshire
Died	13 June 1972 Oxton
Buried at	St Peter and St Paul's Churchyard, Oxton
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Rear Admiral
Unit	HMS Canada HMS Courageous
Commands held	HMS Onslow
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	VIctoria Cross Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order King Haakon VII's Cross of Liberty
Other work	Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire

Rear Admiral Robert St Vincent Sherbrooke VC CB DSO (Oxton 8 January 1901 – Oxton 13 June 1972) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Background

Born in Oxton, Nottinghamshire, Sherbrooke attended the Royal Naval Colleges of Osborne and Dartmouth and joined the Royal Navy in 1916 as a midshipman aboard HMS Canada. He was promoted to Commander in 1935 and served aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. His wartime commands were all Destroyers.

VC action

Sherbrooke was 41 years old, and a Captain in the Royal Navy during the Second World War when the following deed took place during the Battle of the Barents Sea for which he was awarded the VC.

On 31 December 1942 off North Cape, Norway in the Barents Sea, Captain Sherbrooke in HMS Onslow was senior officer in command of destroyers escorting an important convoy for North Russia, when he made contact with a vastly superior enemy force—the cruiser Hipper and the pocket battleship Lutzow. Four times the enemy tried to attack the convoy but was forced back each time. Early in the action Captain Sherbrooke was seriously wounded in the face and temporarily blinded. Nevertheless he continued to direct the ships under his command and even when the next senior officer had assumed control, he insisted on receiving all reports of the action until the convoy was out of danger. His actions—and the Nazi ships' failure to neutralize the convoy despite its superior force—were pivotal for Hitler's order to scrap the Kriegsmarine in the beginning of 1943.^{[citation needed]}

He later achieved the rank of rear-admiral.

References

• British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• Pope, Dudley, "Battle of Barents Sea". History of the Second World War (magazine series), Vol 3, No. 14. (London: Purnell and Sons, 1967)
• Pope, Dudley, "73 North - The Battle of Barents Sea 1942" (Catham Publishing, 2000, ISBN 1 86176 128 7)

External links

• Captain R.S.V. Sherbrooke in The Art of War exhibition at the UK National Archives
• Rear-Admiral Robert St. Vincent Sherbrooke (brief biography)
• Location of grave and VC medal (Nottinghamshire)
• Royal Navy Officers 1939-1945